Page 74 of The Poison Season

“Was there a part of you that wanted to go with Nigel when he left?” she asked.

Mama wrapped her arms tighter around Leelo, like she was trying to keep her from leaving. “Yes, of course. But I knew that I couldn’t.”

“What did Ketty do when she found out about him?” Leelo asked.

Fiona was silent for a long moment. “She found a way to punish me for it. Ketty always does.”

They both startled at a creak on the stairs, and then Sage’s head appeared in the doorway. “Dinner is ready,” she said, flashing a smile that seemed far too innocent to be genuine.How long has she been standing there?Leelo wondered.How much does she already know?

“We’ll be right down,” Fiona said, then waited till they heard Sage descend the stairs before turning back to Leelo. “Now tell me, quickly. Who is this young man you’ve fallen for?”

“You don’t know him,” she said, unable to meet her mother’s eyes.

“No?”

Leelo stared at the carved swans, thinking of the cygnet she and Tate had recovered from the lake. Somewhere in the world, swans swam together on safe waters, bonded for their entire lives. Leelo would always love Endla, because it was her home, but Isola was right. If Mama had helped get Tate’s father off the island, then she might know how to help Jaren. And if Leelo knew her cousin, she wasn’t going to rest until she figured out Leelo’s secret. They had to get him away from here, as soon as possible.

She looked up, meeting her mother’s soft gaze, and swallowed. “I am in love, Mama. His name is Jaren. And he is an outsider.”

Chapter Forty-Five

As they sat around the table eating their dinner in silence, Leelo did her best to appear calm, but she was rattled to her core. It seemed impossible that she and her mother could both have rescued outsiders and then fallen in love with them. She wondered if there was some strange curse on her family or if she was being tested by the Forest to see if she would follow in the footsteps of her traitorous mother. If that was the case, she had failed miserably.

“Leelo, can you please pass me the potatoes?”

She looked up to find Sage watching her, that too-keen look in her eyes. Not knowing how much her cousin had overheard was only making her more uneasy. Sage obviously knew more than Leelo had, but how much, exactly?

After dinner, Leelo and Sage washed the dishes side by side. Fiona was darning a pair of Sage’s torn stockings, and Ketty was checking on the sheep.

“Is everything all right?” Sage asked.

“I’m just tired, I think.”

“Mother and I are going to visit the Hardings tomorrow. Why don’t you come with us? You love their garden.”

Leelo toweled off the bowl she was holding and handed it to Sage to put in the cupboard. “I would, but I promised Mama I’d help her with the sewing.” This was a lie. She had promised Jaren she would visit him, and she had no desire to see Hollis. But it seemed like a good sign that Sage wasn’t complaining about the visit. “Are you feeling better about your engagement?”

“How would you feel about it, if you were me?” Sage asked, her voice curiously devoid of venom.

“What?”

“I mean it. If you were me and you had to marry Hollis Harding, how would you feel about it?”

“I don’t know. I suppose I never really considered it before. I liked Hollis, when we were younger. But he’s a bit...”

“Dense?” Sage asked.

“I was going to say imposing, but no, he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.”

Sage snorted. “No, he’s not.”

“So don’t marry him, Sage. You can wait for something better. You can wait until you fall in love.”

Sage crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the sink. “Like you, you mean?”

Leelo wasn’t sure if Ketty had told Sage about the night she snuck out. She had no idea how much her cousin knew, and her stomach sank as she realized all the possible pitfalls ahead. The more she said, the more likely she was to plummet. “I didn’t say I was in love.”

She arched a brow. “So you’re not, then?”

---